bite | avengers

"see you distract me, but I'm distracted without you"

-tatiana manaois, "helplessly"

- [we are all going to quietly ignore the fact that this is nat]

The open, empty room was silent. Double sided mirrors lined the room making it accessible for anyone to see in, but no one to see out. Ares stood in the center, thrown back to his childhood and he swallowed the lump in his throat. His younger self had his hands curled at his sides and his heart clambering in his chest. 

Ares remembered this day like it was yesterday. He never told anyone about it, though, not even Astraea. Before he entered the room, she had been there, he remembered. She wore a small red dress with a pretty smile that lit her washed out face up. The twins were only twelve, not old enough to know why they had to keep training for nothing. 

His pants hung loosely on his legs, and he tugged them up with a thriving anger. The younger Ares glared at his reflection, his fists tightening. Ares took a step closer, watching the his younger self have tears welling up in his eyes. 

The group behind the mirrors was deciding his fate today. Whether or not they would kill him. Ares was angry at everything, hating himself and his life and his mother. Everything except for Astraea. She was the light in their dark life. He was happy she wasn't going to be forced into the life or death situation. 

"Get on with it!" his younger self screeched with hatred. He was seething with anger, his entire body shaking. His twelve year old body was thin, but muscular. His face looked like a child's, but his eyes were full of a darkness. 

Ares took a step back, unable to watch himself. The rage he felt that day, so many years ago flooded him again. His fingers moved until they reached his chest, pulling at the restricting fabric. Ares couldn't breathe, his stomach soaring in pain as it did that day so long ago. 

A man stepped into the room, staring at the boy. He had an old face and a robe on that hid his growing stomach. Mister Oliver. Ares let out a choked sound as he took another step back and continued to clutch his neck and chest. He stumbled until he hit a wall, slowly falling to the ground. 

Mister Oliver towered over the younger Ares, who hadn't had his growth spurt yet. He looked down on the Stark boy, his white mustache turned into a frown as his hand lifted and he hit it across Ares's face. Ares's face turned from the force, a red mark already starting to form. Slowly, the younger Ares faced Mister Oliver again. His eyes growing with even more hatred. "мы здесь главный , а не вы ."

The control was placed back into Mister Oliver's hands after the reminder. The younger Ares's eyes fell from his hard face, a swallow making his anger subside. His eyes were still full of tears, but he refused to allow them to fall. Mister Oliver placed his hands on Ares's collar, ripping his shirt down the middle. 

Ares placed his head in one of his hands before moving it to his neck, tears streaming down his face. His legs were pulled close to him as his free hand was pressed to his chest. A choked sound escaped him and Ares threw one of his legs out in anger. 

The younger Ares forced his eyes to be downcast as three more men came in the door: Mister Jonathan, Mister Lexington, and Professor Blake. Mister Jonathan and Mister Lexington held his arms out on either side of him, his torn shirt allowing his chest to be exposed. Mister Oliver stepped behind Ares, holding his head to the side. 

Professor Blake was in charge of the entire building and he took pride in all of his students. Ares let out a breath as he made eye contact with the professor. The old man held a metal rod he was going to brand Ares with. It was already hot, practically bubbling at the touch. 

Keeping his eyes open, the younger Ares watched as the branding tool hit his chest. Ares watched the entire process with tears, unable to relive it. The sounds of his screams and fighting against the men was horrible. They were brokenhearted, desperate screams that didn't stop. He fought against their hold, but he couldn't get out. 

Ares hadn't been able to get out since he had gotten in.

-

When he came to, he saw his uncle in the same position he was. Both of the Stark men were sweating with heavy breathing, unable to look at each other after what they each saw. Ares held onto the table in front of him tightly as Tony held his hand out for the hand of his Iron Man suit. When it arrived in his hands, Tony grabbed the scepter.

"Don't tell Astraea," Ares spoke softly when he grabbed Tony's arm before he could walk away. Looking down at his nephew, Tony saw his stony eyes. With a nod Tony guided him back to the jet so they could leave. 

Tony was flying with Clint on a stretcher in the middle of the plane. Steve was standing over him, but kept glancing to the twins, who were next to each other. Natasha kept moving from the cockpit to Clint's side, unsure of where she was needed more. Thor was by Loki's scepter and Banner was listening to music on his headphones. 

Placing a hand on Ares's arm, Astraea spoke softly so no one could hear her conversation with her brother. "Are you hurt? Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine," Ares sent her a half-heated smile that didn't do anything for her worry. "Just a couple of scraped and bruises. Nothing a shower and a couple of bandaids won't fix, Astra. Did you get hurt? I know everyone was throwing you around." 

Crossing her legs professionally, Astraea tilted her chin up to show how superior she was to her brother. "I'll have you know that I didn't get hurt at all. Every time I was thrown, someone was there to catch me."

"How do you manage to never get mud on your clothes?" Ares asked in wonder. She wore high heeled boots, not that he was surprised, but she rolled on the floor a lot during the fighting but she still managed to come out looking perfect.

Astraea flipped her hair expertly and looked down at her clean body. Lifting her eyes up she winked, "I'm pure at heart, big brother. It repels the dirt." 

"Thor, report on the Hulk," Natasha spoke, interrupting the twins' conversation. Astraea's eyes cut across the jet to Bruce and Natasha. Thor's arms dropped from his sides as he turned to speak to the Hulk and Black Widow.

"The gates of Hel are full of the screams of his victims," Thor's arm rose up in a pose of power that made the twins share a roll of their eyes. Seeing Natasha's look and Bruce's head dropping into his hands with a groan, Thor's smile dropped and he tried to correct himself. "But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no wounded screams.  Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and gout."

Standing and moving closer to Thor, Astraea clamped a hand onto his bicep, "You are not making things better for yourself there, oh mighty one." Steve let out a little chuckle he was holding in before glancing up at the Stark girl with a shake of his head.

"Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way from Seul. Is it cool if she sets up in your lab?" Tony questioned Bruce while flying the jet. Ares's fists tightened at the sound of his uncle's voice, still wary on whether or not his uncle would inform his sister about the fact they were both influenced by the Enhanced girl. 

"Uh, yeah. She knows her way around," Bruce nodded and sat back with Natasha in front of him. She was staring at him with big eyes. 

Tony moved from the cockpit to the main part where the Avengers were milling around. He spoke and Ares tensed up again. "Feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but. . ."

"No, but this. . . this bring it to a close," Thor nodded while taking his eyes off of the scepter. Astraea stood between the two men, staring at the glowing blue as well. Ares watched from them from his seat, carefully listening in. 

"As soon soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when's Stucker been capable of human enhancement?" Steve spoke with his eyes on the glowing blue scepter.  

Leaning a hand on the crate that held the scepter, Tony looked over at the three in front of him. "Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you? Just a few days till the farewell party. You're staying, right?" 

Thor placed his hands on his hips, glancing down to a snickering Astraea with a smile. His deep voice vibrated throughout the plane, making the tension less thick. "Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honored with revels."

Leaning her back on the crate beside her uncle, who she shot a wink to, Astraea waved a hand through the air. A smirk crawling its way onto her face like a bug, "Of course, I mean, who doesn't love revels?"

"Captain?" Tony rose his eyebrows to the other blonde. The farewell party was taking place in two days and he was hoping everyone would stay, including his niece and nephew. 

"Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra," Cap said with a grin. Looking away from the scepter to the grinning face of Astraea he nodded his head with a slight chuckle, "So, yes, revels." 

Turning his attention to his niece, Tony rose an eyebrow. He moved to look to his nephew, as well. "And you, J and W? Are you two planning on staying?" 

Seeing this as a time to prove to his sister that he was fine, Ares got up from his seat and walked over to his sister, placing an arm around her while looking down at her. They silently communicated with a look of their eyes. "I don't know, J, what do you think?" 

"Well, W, I think we should stick around for a little while. Make sure everything is running smoothly without us," Astraea teased while leaning into her brother's hold. "Plus, I think we deserve a little break." 

-

The twins made their way to their rooms before they went to visit Barton to check on how he was doing. Ares sat on Astraea's bed, waiting for her to pick out an outfit so they could leave. It was a weird thing between them where they didn't want to go anywhere without the other. "Come on, Astra, I want to get some food after we visit Barton." 

"I've got it, W," Astraea used her nickname for her brother everyone picked up on. W was for war because Ares was named after the Greek god of war. Ares's second nickname for his sister was J for justice because she was also named after a Greek god of justice. Stepping out of her bathroom, Astraea was in black jeans with a black tank top that had a deep-v in the front and an open back. "You're so impatient." 

"You take forever," Ares warned her as they met up with a working Bruce on the way to meet Barton. It seemed like everyone was going to visit him. Astraea rolled her eyes before she hooked her arm with her brother's. 

The twins saw Tony and stopped for a few seconds to speak to him. Astraea smiled at him while Ares had an undeterminable look on his face, "How's he doing? Oh, I hope he has to retire somewhere and play bingo for the rest of his life." 

"Unfortunately, he's still Barton," Tony replied while giving a single shake of his head to his nephew. They wouldn't say anything about what happened.

"That's tragic," Ares spared a look into the windowed room that housed Clint on a table with a machine surrounding him. 

Shaking his head, Tony nodded. "He's fine. He's thirsty."

The twins arrived just in time to hear Bruce explain in three words what Doctor Cho was doing to Clint. "She's creating tissue." 

"Oh, he's flatlining," Astraea teased as she detached herself from her brother to move to be next to the only other female on the team.

Ares leaned back on a table, glancing towards his uncle that just entered the room with a tray of drinks.  "Call it, Tony. Time?" 

"Oh, no, no, no. I'm going to live forever," Clint shook his head while looking up at Tony and the twins. They had on identical smirks that made him roll his eyes at their minds. "I'm going to be made of plastic." 

As Tony handed Clint his drink, the twins patted either side of Clint's shoulders. They wished him good luck but they had to go before Ares blew up from low blood sugar. They nodded hello to Steve when they passed him but continued onto the kitchen without stopping. 

Astraea stood behind the counter as Ares sat at the bar. Passing him a drink, Astraea rose her eyebrows at his thoughtful expression. She pulled out some bread and the other ingredients she needed to make sandwiches. "What's got you thinking so hard, W?" 

"Nothing," he gave her a small smile before breathing out. Taking a sip of his drink, Ares twirled it around in his hands - his tell that he's hiding something. He looked away from his cup when Astraea's hand was placed on his wrist. 

"We don't keep things from each other, remember?" Astraea pulled back and crossed her arms. An almost hurt look appeared on her face before it went back to being normal. The twins were close and they didn't do anything without each other. It was hard for the two to be separate because they didn't keep secrets or anything of the sort. 

Guilt rushed through Ares as he nodded and tightened his hands before releasing them and grabbing his sister's. A smile was sent towards her, a real one. "I'm just thinking, Astra, nothing more." 

"All right," she ignored the tugging feeling in her brain and passed him a sandwich before picking up her own. "Dig in." 

-